"Fallen" by Evanescence: An Album Review

Evanescence “Fallen” (3.5 stars)

Before “Fallen” (Wind-up Records) came out in 2003, the most anyone had heard about the band from Arkansas were two songs that seemed to be played across the radio indefinitely, “My Immortal” and “Bring Me to Life”. I remember asking my mother at the time (we were listening to one of ‘her’ stations which played soft rock) who had done them. She didn’t know.

And then “Fallen” came out and established the Evanescence as a sort of Gothic/Alternative Rock feel and the music world quickly took notice. How interesting, a hard rock band headed by a girl.

“Fallen” gave Amy Lee the chance to stretch her voice, and stretch it she did. From track to track she goes from determined, strong, almost bitter at times, to a softer, more chilling tone and back again.

But it’s not only the vocalist to be praised, the music as well pars with the lyrics at the right tone, and overall sets the mood of the song in the very beginning, even before Amy begins to sing.

No album is without its flaws of course. The very first song, “Going Under” is mediocre and shouldn’t give the listener their first impression of the band. “Hello” and “Tourniquet” feel sort of out-of-place as well, depending on the listener.

“My Immortal” and “Bring Me to Life” are two of the most notable songs on the album because they’re the songs that made the band popular, but lets take a look at some of the lesser known good songs:

“Everybody’s Fool” is a great example of the ‘fakeness’ in certain aspects of our current world. The lines “without the mask where will you hide/can't find yourself lost in your lie” make a statement about people who are too lost in trying to impress everyone else that they forget who they are.

“Haunted” is one of the spookiest songs on the album. It definitely has that stereotypical ‘gothic/emo I hate this world’ tone at first, but later on it become apparent that the true emotion being expressed is fear, and the reality of it. Though both the music and lyrics are strong, it has an underlying frightened child feel.

The emotion of fear is later re-addressed in “Whisper”, which despite the title is definitely one of the ‘rockier’ songs on the album, this time the theme has taken a darker turn and is paired with a feeling of loneliness. It seems an appropriate end song for the album, because this is the song Amy’s voice AND the instrumentals really build and come out. Like some sort of climax we’ve been waiting for the whole album.

So that’s a brief review of “Fallen” by Evanescence. It’s the bands first cd, and definitely the most notable one. And I still can’t figure out why they still play the songs on that soft rock station.

Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n Roll-Required Listening

For this blog assignment we had to choose three songs from the required listening list on Spencer’s blog and write about them. I have chosen Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction”, Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi”, and Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition”.

“Eve of Destruction”-Barry McGuire




This is probably my favorite song on the entire list. It has a somewhat faster pace then most of the other 1960’s folk rock songs I think the lyrics are brilliant. It almost seems like a protest song although it’s much more ‘mellow’ then what we consider ‘protest songs’ to be today. My favorite part is “You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’”. I think this speaks a lot about how the youth of America felt back then, a sense of duty to do anything they could to help their country. And in a way, it seems kinda messed up that they can go and fight and yet their opinion is never heard about whether we should even go into war.


“Big Yellow Taxi”- Joni Mitchell


I’ll admit it; I thought the Counting Crows did this song originally. I suppose it shows my musical ignorance where anything pre-1990’s is concerned. This is one of my dad’s favorite songs (though he neglected to mention she did it originally) and I’ve always kinda liked it (to the point of getting vastly annoyed when people assure me the song’s title is “They Paved Paradise”). However, this version stands out to me in a different way then the CC version. In the CC version, things are a lot faster and much more focused, making this piece much more of a ‘song’. Joni Mitchell’s version is somewhat ‘dreamier’, her voice is softer and more emotional, and it really helps the spirit of the lyrics come out more. If the CC version is like a ‘song’, hers is more a like poetry with music.

“Superstition”- Stevie Wonder


This is a song I’ve heard countless times over my life and have really never paid much attention to before (except to note that the song was called “Superstition”). Now that I’ve heard it again, and gone back and read the lyrics, the meaning is starting to become a little clearer to me. I’m undecided as to whether I actually like the song or not but he makes some interesting points (among various references to old wives tales) such as ”When you believe in things that you dont understand, Then you suffer, Superstition ain’t the way, yeh, yeh”.

Literature Circle Blog Post 2

We've wrapped up our first book already so today I will be posting on our second book: "Notes from the Underground"

Part 1: http://bigdr00.blogspot.com/2007/12/literature-circle-resonse-1.html

Part 2:

a) Observations

What strikes me about the book is that it does not neccessarily follow the normal 'novel format' because the first part of the book occurs mainly in the 'underground man's' head. There isn't neccessarily a 'story' being told in part one, more just a series of commentaries made by him about his opinions and viewpoints of himself and the world as he sees it.

Developing themes:
*Justice
*Revenge
*Madness
*Perception and self respect

b) Ouestions

Interpretive question: What is the difference between revenge and justice and how do they relate to "Notes frome the Underground"?

(So far) my opinion would be:

Justice: What is considered 'just'. However this is often hard to determine as having a personal connection to the situation autimatically makes you biased and your punishing actions may be more done out of spite, personal opinion, or emotional fulfillment.

Revenge: Personally implicating punishment or consequences for actions that were done against you or relate to you.

c) Quotes

A quote from NFTU that is relevant to the question above occurs on page 12:

"I said that a man revenges himself because he sees justice in it. Therefore he has found a primary cause, that is, justice. And so he is at rest on all sides, and consequently he carries out his revenge calmly and successfully, being persuaded that he is doing a just and honest thing. But I see no justice in it, I find no sort of virtue in it, and consequently if I attempt to revenge myself, it is only out of spite."

A brief reflection on Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”

I think this piece (or novella or novel or something because it’s really short) is a accurate representation of how greed affects the human mind and the slow descent into madness. From what we have gathered, the concept of ‘darkness’ appears to be a) lust and greed for material possessions, b) an abandonment of moral values, or c) seeking things (whether material or not) for your own selfish gain.

At first the reader is meant to picture the enigmatic Mr. Kurtz as this ideal leader, strong and powerful and smart and a real influence on the company. But perhaps this ‘influence’ is not always ideal. He is later depicted as this selfish, personally interested man who yes is quite successful at his job (gaining ivory) but his methods are questionable.

Possession of ivory is Mr. Kurtz’s ultimate goal. In the book there are constant references to its value and luster. Think of it as the modern fight for oil, and Mr. Kurtz the leader of a country who must obtain it in order to support the live the life they have become acquainted to. Thus, humans will lose their inhibitions and may resort to more controversial methods as many political issues depict today.

I sometimes got distracted during the course of the book. This is mostly due to the way Conrad writes. His style tends to be very descriptive and reading a page is sometimes like decoding a puzzle. It is not his fault that I got distracted. I fear that I have been stuck in the ‘teen genre’ for too long and it was a total change of gears from what I had been used to lately. The book definitely warrants a second reading I did enjoy it regardless of my sometimes confusion.

"The Melancholic Pedestrian" by Salvador Garmendia

Wow.

I liked this story granted that it was extremely CREEPY.

What kind of sick, twisted, Jekyll and Hydish individual would kill a helpless old lady in her sixties, and a church organist nonetheless.

Though I suppose that's the point- the PERFECT victim...

(I'll update tonight on specific passages that stood out to me)

Water Presentation: Bottled water vs. Municipal water

So, it's going better now that we've actually found some sources, we didn't present today however which is irritating because that means tommorrow is going to be hectic with two quizzes and a presentation.

However I can't complain as Anne was gracious enough to let us go last because we had so much trouble in the beginning.

(Cheers and Kudos for Anne!)

The good news: tomorrow is Friday.

Final Sources for Water Project:

http://www.bottledwater.org/default.htm

http://www.brighamandwomens.org/healtheweightforwomen/special_topics/intelihealth0804.aspx?subID=submenu10

http://www.jupiterionizers.com/catalog/article_info.php?articles_id=10

Water Project: Some resources and frustrations

http://www.fda.gov/FDAC/features/2002/402_h2o.html

http://www.nsf.org/business/water_distribution/pdf/NSF_Fact_Sheet.pdf

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761573158_2/Water.html

http://www.lenntech.com/water-purification-steps-FAQ.htm (some chemical info)

http://www.bidness.com/esd/water_facts.htm


This is starting to appear a lot harder then I had originally thought. The topic is overall starting to become a frustration, it seems as if we can't get a definition for 'municipal water' anywhere, and those that claim to be are extremely vague. I'm simply starting to think that everything is simply tap water through faucet or bottle and there is NO difference between bottled and municipal water.